ABSTRACT
This chapter theorizes the intersection between the Theatre of the Absurd traditions with Camp and Queer performance and theory. Utilizing the work of the renowned lesbian-feminist theater company Split Britches (made up of Peggy Shaw and Lois Weaver), this chapter demonstrates the possibility of thinking the Theatre of the Absurd beyond traditional gender and sexual categories to include LGBTQ+ theater. Here, Camp and the absurd intersect through the lesbian butch/femme subjectivity of Shaw and Weaver, creating a “Camp absurd” aesthetic. This aesthetic reflects a queer worldview which undermines heteronormative, gendered imperatives in theater and society. Focusing on Split Britches’ Belle Reprieve (1991)—a queer deconstruction of Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire—the notion of a Camp absurd is grounded in performance and textual analysis.
